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Aren’t Facts Important?

Posted on Nov 11, 2009 - 08:25 PM by Jonah Canner in Got Questions?

This "democratic" approach to education seems nice, but don't kids need to know certain facts to thrive in the world?

In a word... yes.

But I'm not going to stop after one word. Yes, there are absolutely things that people need to know in order to thrive in the world, but we will never be able to teach people everything that they will need to know for their life. And people, depending on the life path that they choose, will need to know different facts at different times. So rather than filling our young people's heads with facts, we should teach them how to find the information they need and give them the skills to analyze and interpret that information for themselves.

If our schools...

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They Literally Threw in the Sink

Posted on Apr 18, 2010 - 10:35 PM by Ammerah Saidi in The Learning Curve

You know that line we say when someone goes overboard: "He threw in everything but the kitchen sink." Well, some boys at my school wanted to make sure to include the sink into whatever they were mixing because they ripped it out of the wall in one of their bathrooms.

What does this have to do with democratic education? It's a clear sign that the type of education they were getting was anything but. I remember reading Ain't No Makin' It by Jay MacLeod and it was in this book that I first learned about how acts of disobedience can sometimes be a way for someone to regain or attain power he/she has lost. This made me look at gum chewing, skipping, cursing, graffiti, and now sink-pulling...

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The Power Of One

Posted on Apr 27, 2010 - 11:43 AM by Shawn Strader in Op-Education

As I lock my bicycle up in downtown Phoenix, outside of a happenin' little cafe called Conspire, a child, belted into his stroller, is continually crying, nearly screaming, as he sits unattended to by anyone around. There are a lot of people here. I am glancing from person to person, hoping to bring attention to this crying kid, but nobody is receptive. I should have figured that a stony glance around would not amount to someone else coming to the aid of this child, considering that his scream can be heard from 50 yards in any direction and nobody seems to care.

I've come to the Conspire to play their open-mic with my good friend Matt. Matt is much more confrontational than I am, and...

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How To Return Them To School?

Posted on Feb 04, 2011 - 06:22 PM by Shawn Strader in Resources

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Chicago Freedom School

Posted on Feb 09, 2011 - 10:31 AM by Dana Bennis in Resources

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The Independent Project

Posted on Mar 15, 2011 - 01:14 PM by Dana Bennis in Resources

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